Related Rule
Pakistan
Practice Relating to Rule 100. Fair Trial Guarantees
Section C. Presumption of innocence
The Manual of Pakistan Military Law (1987) states:
At the outset of deliberations, the court must remember that the accused is presumed to be innocent until he is proved to be guilty, and that the burden of proof rests upon the prosecution. Unless, therefore, the guilt of the accused has been established beyond reasonable doubt, the accused must be acquitted, as the prosecution has failed to sustain adequately the burden of proving his guilt.
Pakistan, Manual of Pakistan Military Law, Vol. 1, Ministry of Defence, Government of Pakistan, 1987, p. 42.
The manual further states that members of courts martial must remember: “It is a fundamental maxim of law that an accused person is presumed to be innocent until he has been proved to be guilty.”
Pakistan, Manual of Pakistan Military Law, Vol. 1, Ministry of Defence, Government of Pakistan, 1987, p. 601.
In 2001, in its second periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Pakistan stated:
There is a presumption of innocence in favour of all accused persons unless proved guilty. In all criminal cases, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, which must prove its case beyond any doubt to secure a conviction. In the absence of such evidence the benefit of doubt goes to the accused.
Pakistan, Second periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, 11 April 2003, UN Doc. CRC/C/65/Add.21, submitted 19 January 2001, § 390; see also § 367.
